


The Pan Pacific Apartment Complex

by raleighpuppy



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ghosts, Alternate Universe - No Kaiju, F/M, He is also a ghost who haunts Mako's apartment and this makes sense I swear, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Raleigh is also a dork, characters to be added as they appear, raleigh is a ghost
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-28
Updated: 2015-03-28
Packaged: 2018-03-20 00:19:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3629634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raleighpuppy/pseuds/raleighpuppy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Mako Mori, a freshman in college, moves into apartment 3B of the Pan Pacific Apartment Complex, she expects the usual: a semi-shoddy apartment in a major city near a college campus with a variety of inhabitants.</p><p>What she gets is quite different.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Pan Pacific Apartment Complex

Apartment 3B of the Pan Pacific Apartment Complex is, according to every single review she can find online, haunted by the ghost of a previous tenant, a college student named Raleigh Becket who was apparently killed in his sleep during a home invasion; he was apparently found lying in bed with a knife buried in his abdomen and no signs of struggle on his face, and his ghost is supposedly still residing in apartment 3B. According to other stories, this same ghost chases out all new tenants. Apparently. Supposedly.

Mako Mori is a rational person who doesn't believe in ghosts, especially not Raleigh Becket.

Which is why she rolls her eyes at Chuck when he suggests the two of them embark on what he enthusiastically calls a "ghost hunt," but she didn't expect anything less from him; boys will be boys, especially Chuck. So, she shuts him down with, "I'm sure as hell not going ghost-hunting with you," notices the disappointed slump in his shoulders and an almost-pout take root on his face, but pretends not to.

"But Mako, what if we see 'im?" Chuck replies. "C'mon, it'll be fun and Max'll be there too. Dogs can apparently, like, see ghosts and spirits an' shit, according to all those ghost hunting shows."

She skeptically looks down at his fat and wrinkly bulldog Max, currently rolling around on his back on her new carpet and snorting. In the middle of his rolling session, he looks over at them and wags his stumpy tail so hard his entire body trembles with excitement. Real majestic. And also apparently capable of seeing ghosts and spirits and shit. She has her doubts and she has more than enough of them to share with everyone.

"The only thing Max is capable of is--"

Before she can finish that thought, Chuck scoops his beloved dog in his arms and holds him close as he glares at her as if daring her to speak one negative word about his precious fur-child, and Mako decides to give in. Because, really, what harm can it do? She'll spend one night roaming the building with Chuck and Max, they'll see she's right and that ghosts, especially Raleigh Becket, don't exist, and Chuck will never ask to go ghost-hunting again. So, she brushes her hair behind her ear and sighs. She hates to admit any sort of defeat and agreeing to this BS sure feels like defeat, but Chuck is just as stubborn as she is, so she decides to be the bigger person and to indulge him just this once. But never again; not after one ghost-hunting session.

"Fine. I'll go ghost-hunting with you and Max tonight."

His face lights up and there are those dimples. "Really? Yer really gonna do it?" He doesn't give her a chance to answer out of fear she'll come to her senses and change her mind. Mako almost wishes he does. "Great! We've gotta do some research first, learn exactly who this Raleigh bloke is, and then we gotta find, like, flashlights and stuff."

"What about those monitors they use on the shows?" she asks.

"Those don't really work," he replies. "Least I don't think they do."

"You're ridiculous," she comments as she digs out her laptop, one of the first things they unpacked, anyway, and hands it to him.

"You know 'bout when this happened or anythin'?" he asks after a minute of furious _click-click-click-click_. "'cause 'm lookin' through a newspaper and news stations archive an' there's a lot of news to sift through, y'know."

She brushes off the couch before sitting between him and the bulldog. "It was nearly five years ago."

"Okay, okay."

The website is a mess, a jumbled mass of news stories, articles, and reels, and he can't make heads or tails out of it. He can't even find the search bar, so he grumbles and hands over the laptop to Mako, who amazingly manages to find it in a couple of seconds, and then flicks his ear and calls him dumb. Within a few minutes of sifting through the search results for the keywords _Raleigh Becket_ , _2020_ , and _break in_ , she has an article from the  _Anchorage Times_ pulled up.

**Local Man Found Dead in the Pan Pacific Apartment Complex Room 3B**

_Two days ago, local man Raleigh Becket (20) was found dead in his apartment after not being seen by friends, classmates, teachers, or other tenants in the apartment complex for nearly 48 hours. According to neighbors Hermann Gottlieb and Newton Geiszler, both professors at Wellman University where Becket attended, in apartment 3A, a foul smell was being admitted from somewhere nearby. From his studies in biology, Geiszler identified the smell as biological matter in decay. The building's owner, Hannibal Chau, called law enforcement officials and upon opening the room, Becket was found dead in bed with a knife plunged into his abdomen. His face showed signs of struggle and the blankets had been thrown off of him. It is unknown who killed him or why, but nothing was taken from his apartment or any others. Surveillance cameras failed to capture any footage of the conflict and failed to create a single suspect. Becket's friends, teachers, classmates, and family failed to identify a single person who would kill him. Becket is known as a very friendly man. He loved dogs, flowers, and books. He always wore a sweater no matter the weather. If any information is known as to who would break into the apartment and kill college student Raleigh Becket, please contact local law enforcement.  
_

Underneath the article, there is a picture of young man with blond hair Mako knows she'd try to fix, like she does with Chuck's ginger mess, if she saw him and a big grin that makes her think of a dog, particularly a golden retriever. And there's that sweater the article mentioned; he's wearing a lumpy blue sweater. She doesn't know exactly why, but she feels a dull pain in her chest, and she gets a stupid idea.

"Do you think he's lonely as a ghost?" she asks, looking over at Chuck, who blinked, and then frowned.

"Thought ya didn't believe in ghosts." He leans over to get a better look at the picture. "He's a good-looking bloke."

She bites her lower lip. "It's a hypothetical question. Suppose ghosts do exist; do you think he's lonely?"

He considers her question with a slight frown. "Yeah, I guess he is. Yer not looking t' befriend him, are ya?"

"I don't know." She pauses. " _If_   he were real, friendly, and lonely, maybe I would try to befriend him."

He groans and slouches down on her just-unpacked couch, and Max whines, almost as if he's being critical of her too. Suddenly, she feels a red hot flash of defensiveness, but she's not sure why she cares too much because, obviously, ghosts, including Raleigh Becket, do _not_ exist, so it would therefore be impossible for her to befriend him even if he were lonely, but there's still a hint of annoyance that maybe, just maybe, Chuck, the one who suggested ghost-hunting in the first place, thinks her idea is ridiculous.

She sighs and slouches down as well, giving in. "Even though you're an ass, I'll still go ghost-hunting with you, alright? Just don't laugh if I try to, like, befriend him or something."

"So, you admit he's most likely real?" His grin is sharp, shark-like. "And you think he's a benevolent spirit?"

"Why wouldn't he be benevolent?" She sits up straight, and then reaches over to pet Max. "You read the article too. He was a friendly guy who loved dogs, flowers, and books and always wore lumpy sweaters. He can't be too bad."

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" He frowns as he stares at her, his head tilted to the side like how Max does when you call his name over and over in a high-pitched voice and it confuses him. "Fer all we know, Raleigh coulda been a serial killer or some shite. Plenty of serial killers an' terrible people love dogs an' books an' flowers an' wear lumpy sweaters."

"Do you want me to go ghost-hunting with you or not, asshole?"

"Ugh, yes. Fine."

* * *

 "I hate you," Mako grumbles as she slowly opens the creaky door and creeps into pitch-black hallway, flashlight in her shaky hand.

It's like one of those moonless nights; all the lights are off, not even a single beam sneaks out from under a closed door, and she can't see a thing except for the two rings of light, one from her flashlight and the other from Chuck's. Chuck doesn't speak for once in his life; the words are stuck in his throat and refuse to be transformed into vocalizations. The only sounds are the muted voices on TV sets, the hum of the heater, and Max's panting. The excitable bulldog with his wagging tail and snuffling is the only one noticeably undisturbed by the dark and perhaps-presence of a ghost. Even Chuck, who likes to pretend he's tough, appears scared and he's visibly shaking as he grips his flashlight with a force that leaves his knuckles a ghastly white.

"Chuck?" she whispers, turning back to face him where he stands in the doorway, unmoving. "Are you coming or not? This was your idea, remember?"

He quickly shakes his head. "Mako, I don't wanna go ghost-huntin' anymore," he frantically whispers back.

"But look at Max; he's fine and he can apparently see ghosts, remember?"

But he only shakes his head again and still doesn't move. With an exasperated sigh, Mako marches over, but not too loudly because their neighbors are probably asleep at this ungodly hour, and then proceeds to pull him into the hallway to where Max stands, sniffing the air, by the sleeve. His gaze wanders back to the door and he wistfully sighs, but allows Mako to drag him further into the hallway. It's too early in the morning to fight or resist.

"Okay," Mako begins. "How exactly do you catch a ghost?"

He shrugs. "Dunno. Didn't think we'd get this far, honestly."

Suddenly, Max starts to whine. And it's different, very different, from his usual whining. That's long and quiet and almost a little sad; this is short and loud. He's _crying_ and shaking as he runs (more like waddles at a rather fast speed for a bulldog), back to the room. And Chuck wants nothing more than to follow his precious bulldog back to the safety of the room, but Mako, that asshole who enabled him and didn't stop him from doing this, takes a step forward.

"Mako!" he hisses. "Get back here!"

But she doesn't listen.

The air feels heavier and oppressive, and he's seconds away from crying and screaming and grabbing his phone to call their dads. He grabs at his pocket, his phone isn't there, and his heart begins to pound uncontrollably, all while Mako ventures further and further, inch by inch, into the dark of the hallway. 

_Fuck fuck fuck fuck_. His heart is pounding uncontrollably as Mako takes more and more steps into the oppressively dark and scary hallway.

"Mako?" His voice waivers.

But she doesn't move.

She's staring out into the dark, holding a flashlight and inching further and further away as if entranced by something or someone just beyond Chuck's line of vision. The beam of light emitted from her flashlight sways back and forth as her hands tremble. Her heartbeat is surprisingly slow as she moves towards an unmarked door, towards where she swears she saw someone standing just a second ago.

Chuck stops talking and the hallway is entirely silent except for Max's cries, a TV on in someone's apartment, and her footsteps.

Somewhere in the apartment complex, someone snores loudly. Something moves; she freezes; her breath catches as a figure appears directly in front of her.

His eyes are blue. That's the first thing she notices: his deep blue, clear eyes. And then it's his wide, friendly grin. She's about to ask him if he knows of Raleigh Becket, the ghost, and where they can perhaps find him, and then it all crashes down on her. The ruffled blond hair she wants to fix, the lumpy blue sweater, the hole in his nearly transparent middle, his sparkling blue eyes, his puppydog grin, and the crinkle near his eyes when he smiles comes crashing down on her.

He's Raleigh Becket.

And Mako Mori is on her knees and crying because he's so young and dead and right in front of her with a big hole in his middle still, even as a ghost.

"No, no," the specter breathes. "Please don't cry, Ms. Mori."

He reaches to touch her shoulder and they don't touch-- he can never touch physical objects or living creatures anymore-- but she can feel his presence and, surprisingly, it's very comforting, even though he's cold and doesn't breathe or blink or have a heartbeat.

"I'm so--" She sniffles. "--sorry, Mr. Becket."

The ghost smiles. "Please call me Raleigh, and it's okay. You didn't do it. It's not your fault."

She smiles and it's soft and sweet and so small. And he wishes he could reach out and push her hair back behind her ear so it's not in her face and he can see her clearly. It's not the first time he's yearned for touch in his five years as a ghost, but it's the strongest he's ever yearned for it. And it's all because of the sniffling stranger in front of him who had the resolve to hunt him down and then apologize. 

"Mako!" Chuck rushes over, carrying Max. "Mako, are-- Holy shit."

"Chuck."

Mako slowly stands up, reaching out to take Raleigh's hand, and then pulling away when she realized he can't help her up. Chuck's a mess; he's blabbering and shaking and clutching Max. She swears his eyes are red-rimmed from crying and his nose is runny.

She gestures to the ghost next to her with his head tilted to the side like a puppy.

"I'd like you to meet Raleigh Becket."

 


End file.
